they are still polls. i think brown is probably ahead. i think the democrat is leading by 5 points. he will run a little bit ahead of president obama in the state. he appeals to some voters that obama does not appeal to simply because he's been there along time. i think brown ends up being safe. bill nelson has survived an onslaught of more than $20 million in outside ad spending. he's running against representative connie mack. while mack has had the potential to make it real contest, he has not. nelson is running it pretty close, six. . that's our it will end up on election day,. virginia was tied for very long time. there were 6000 poles in a row that showed it at a tie. -- there were 6000 polls in a

row that showed it at a tie. we did the washington post poll that showed romney leading by a much larger number of earlier this week i do and think tim kaine is ahead by 3 points. on election day, this will be really close contest. i still give tim kaine the edge, a tort allen is not dead by any means. host: if you are interested in hearing from those candidates, we have covered many of the debates in the closely contested senate races. c-span.org to find them. reid wilson, editor-in-chief of the hotline. thanks for your time. guest: thank you. host: coming up, we continue our battleground 2012 series. the states we look at next will be new hampshire. we will talk to neil levesque of the new hampshire institute of politics.

later, two partisans on each side of the aisle about their ground games in the state of new hampshire. we will be right back. ♪ ca ♪ [video clip] that, let's get the album documents the coolest family during their white house years and before. -- coolidge family. we have one box of photographs and several boxes of documents. the photographs are heavy. the albums should be in the back of the box.

here it is. unfortunately, it is on black acidic paper. there's not much we can do about that, because we don't want to change the artefact nature of the album itself. it is starting crack, some of the pages are separating. this is a photograph of calvin coolidge the day before he became president. he was in plymouth, vermont, visiting his father, doing some chores. this is a press photograph, so he did have the press along with him. you can see they took one photograph of him o with his of himn -- with his suit jacket and another without. >> more from the vermont historical society this weekend as we look behind the scenes at the history and literary life of vermont's state capital, saturday at noon eastern on

"book tv" on c-span2 and on sunday on c-span 3. "washington journal" continues. . host: for the past week and continuing this week, we have been looking at the 9 swing states and hold the keys to the election. today we put a spotlight on the state of new hampshire. the small state in the northeast corner holding four leapt laurel votes. right now its unemployment rate for september, 5.7%. president obama won the state by a large margin in 2008 with 9%. neil levesque is the executive director of the new hampshire institute of politics, joining us this morning from manchester. let's begin with top issues for new hampshire voters. guest: good morning from new hampshire. before i start, i want to thank c-span and congratulate c-span

radio on 15 great years being on the air. it has been a very valuable resource for some of us in civics. a great resource. in new hampshire, we are a swing states. four electoral votes. it sounds like a small number, with 538, but if al gore had won those of for your votes, he would become president. so they are very important. this state is a tossup. the issues are little different in new hampshire than across the country. unlike a state like nevada and has a higher unemployment rate, and mentors at 5.7%, which is a little higher than it has been all summer, this means jobs and the economy is an issue that is certainly front and center ended is the number-one issue, but it may not bring home as much as other issues -- ring home. host: what are the swing

areas of that states that have historically provided the winner with the electoral votes? guest: by now we are seeing that the candidates are coming into -- particularly the president's campaign has been coming into the sea coast, rockingham county area, cities like rochester are certainly areas that are indicative of what may happen in this election. but the other location candidates are coming into is the city of nashua, the second- largest city in the state. we are seeing the president was there a few days ago last saturday. it seems to be a place that is being fought over. it's along the massachusetts border. massachusetts is the stated that governor romney led. so it is a very interesting area. many of the people from nashua work in massachusetts. host: who are the voters in this area? guest: new hampshire has

traditionally libertarian streak. our motto is live free or die. it is a tossup location. the voters, i think they are voting for the person they think is going to lead this country the next four years. some people will say new hampshire has a summer home of governor romney and the state next door, massachusetts, where he was governor. i think that is less of a factor. i think the people of new hampshire can see beyond that and are voting for the person they think is best for the 50 states. host: tell us about the history of new hampshire being a swing state. guest: traditionally, new hampshire was very solidly republican for many years. recently, i think it is sort of the clinton 1992 phenomenon that has changed that. he one the state twice. in 2000 it went to george w. bush. kerrey., john care

the president got a nine point victory in 2008. we really are tossups state. the polls go back and forth. it is difficult to determine who is going to win this state right now. host: is there early voting and how do the hampshire residents vote on election day? guest: there's not early voting, but there's absentee ballot. you have to sign a form saying you are not going to be available on voting day to come to the polls. traditionally, the polls are open from about 7:00 until 7:00. some locations are open until 8:00 p.m. on election day. we have one of the highest voter turnouts in the country. other statistical interesting facts are that we are one of the least taxed states in the

nation. the least. we have no income tax, no sales tax. the democratic and republican candidates will pledge on that issue, saying they will not have an income tax or sales tax. our two gubernatorial candidates right now are both running on that issue. host: neil levesque, about the recount laws in the state of new hampshire. is it possible that there could be a recount in this state and what are the rules for that? guest: we have specific rules for the state. we have a fine secretary of state, bill gardner, quite experienced in this. he's the person who has been the keeper of the flame for the new hampshire primary. we had a famous account here in the late '70's with senator john

durken who recently passed away. frankly, i don't see it coming down to that. we will see what happens on tuesday. i think other states may be more likely to have a recount and new hampshire. host: do you have voter id laws? guest: yes, and there's some controversy. the legislature passed a voter -- a new voter law that required people to swear that if there were going to vote in a certain town that they would pay their taxes and their registration fees for their cars in that town, etc. this was appealed and the state supreme court has put that on hold. right now some of our voters are slightly confused about those issues going into tuesday. host: neil levesque executive director at saint anselm college in new hampshire at the institute of politics. if you would like to join the

conversation -- also, send us a tweet or post your comment on facebook or send us an e-mail. then, remember, we also have a special phone line set aside for new hampshire residents. we want to tear from you as well during this next hour-and-a-half conversation that we will have focusing on the battleground state of new hampshire. neil levesque, let's also talk about election night. what will you be watching for? guest: i will be looking at the cities of nashua and areas along the border with massachusetts and i will look at a town such as our tester, as i mentioned. one interesting a thing about election night is governor romney has announced that he will be here the day before the election.

historically, and the president did that as well. not to say that he's been elected president, but another candidate for president did. that was john f. kennedy. he came to new hampshire before coming down to cape cod to wait for returns, which as we all know did not come through that very evening in 1960. host: how is governor romney dealing with the good economy in new hampshire, 5.7% unemployment? guest: it is a little tricky, if your main message nationwide is the economy and new hampshire's economy, their unemployment rate is so low. it is lightly tricky. one issue that the democrats have been using both for the presidential election and in our gubernatorial races is the issue of abortion. that has been something that has been highly significant in the advertising that china seen on

new hampshire television. one thing that's interesting, being in a swing state, if you are watching nationwide and you're not in a swing states, is if you turn on the tv or radio, is all advertising. if you are local automobile dealer trying to sell your cars, you really have a hard time getting your ads in. it's nonstop. so you see a positive ad for the president and then a - 1. and then the same for governor romney. -- a positive ad for the president and then a negative ad, and then the same for governor romney. it can get confusing. i'm sure voters are confused to some degree at. this at host: when you look at party registration in new hampshire, republican, 32%, democrats, 28%. and declared voters in new hampshire, that they make up 40%

of registered voters. how are candidates appealing to that 40%? guest: that is what you are looking at if you are candidates, those undeclared voters. there are 300 $10,000 them in new hampshire. many political scientists believe that they may claim to be declared at the local ballot but when they go to vote, that they traditionally lean one way or another. -- there are 3000,000 of them in new hampshire, and declared voters. in new hampshire behalf two congressmen. we have the first and second congressional district. a second district liens democrat. right now is held by congressman , a republican. that district is something i will be watching as well.

as i mentioned, nashua, which is in that district, is a city where the candidates have been pouring into and surrogates, so it is a district we will be watching on election night. host: lakota bryant in new hampshire, independents. you are sought after by the two candidates. -- let's go to bryan. caller: i'm leaning toward obama now. when i hear him speak, he connects better with me. when i listened to obama speak, more of my questions are answered. when i listen to romney speak, i tend to have more questions and i get confused as i listened to him and it's hard for me to pinpoint where he is on the issues. but my question is, i am a

relatively new residents to new hampshire, but my question is whether you studied new president eight years compared with people who have been here for generations and if you seen any significant differences between the two? guest: that's a great question, because one of the fallacies in new hampshire is that people move from the state of massachusetts, which is much more government-centered than new hampshire, and they're moving across the border and then voting democratic. the fact is that's not true. the towns along the border with a lot of new residents, a lot of transplants from massachusetts, are really the solid republican counts these days. years ago, in the 1960's, for example, the cities where

democratic. allou were a candidate, you have to do is win the talent. the towns along a the vermont border are very strong democratic towns and very strong democratic areas now. so it has almost been a complete reversal. the old yankee farmer, if you will, might have switched party registration in the last 20 years. host: here is judith on twitter -- guest: governor sununu is a very knowledgeable former governor of new hampshire and he was white house tebow staff for george h. w. bush. he certainly knows national politics. it-- he was white house chief of staff for george herbert walker

bush. a very smart man and a very well-respected. certainly anyone in politics that has gone on television a lot and is commenting sometimes may or may not say something they regret. i think the vice president actually said that. so i am not going to judge each one of his remarks. host: is it having an impact on the new hampshire voter? guest: he is very well respected here in new hampshire. i think that maybe one of the reasons he has been so out front for the republican party, because he is someone people here in new hampshire would tend to listen dupont. likewise, senator -- is very popular here and are outgoing governor, john lynch as well. the president's campaign used him in an advertisement because he is so popular and he has been on the stage with the president.

they are definitely using surrogates like that. the president's campaign is very smart to use some of these people like senator sheheen, who is more of a centrist democrat, favorable among independents. if you are a new hampshire voters and watching television, you might give refuconfused by l but ads and then you see what your popular politicians speaking on their behalf, you might be likely to sway your vote in that direction. i think that the two u.s. senators and their endorsements of the two opposition candidates have been very important here in new hampshire. host: who won in 2008 and why, and how's it looking good six days to go? guest: president obama won by

nine points in 2008. senator mccain had spent a lot of time here, not only in his primary campaign in 2008 but previous to that in 2000, i think he had over 100 town hall meetings in new hampshire during that time. so he has been to a lot of different places. i'm sure it was a disappointment for him. he continued to come to new hampshire on behalf of governor romney. -- continues. i think new hampshire is a tossup, it's anyone's guess at this point. it's what makes politics exciting. certainly not the candidates are placing a lot of emphasis here. as i mentioned, romney is coming in. and president clinton at the end of the week is coming here for the president. i don't have any research necessarily on this, but i would say president clinton and hillary clinton are very

popular in new hampshire and particularly amongst activists. he continues to be a very popular figure here. host: president obama has a slight edge over governor romney in real clear politics in that state. and you can see the specific recent polls that have been taken, giving obama an edge in some of them and romney in others. now to akron, ohio, independent. caller: i will say this, i have already voted and i am independent, truly. i found it disgusting that mitt romney would stay in ohio to collect canned goods. if he truly believes we should be reliant on private enterprise when there's a

disaster, why would he not take $5 million out of its own pocket and by the canned goods and continue on his way? instead he sends norm: to ohio to talk about what mitt romney says on abortion, which is not true. at the same time he is changing his game and changing every view. the president is doing his job. he is not claiming to do anything but his job. host: the front page of the boston globe shows the impact of the storm, millions reeling. and then this headline in the hartford current -- guest: the storm affected new hampshire as well, our fourth

largest car outage here in new hampshire. we dog to the choleraller, have the opportunity to be around these candidates at the entrance to the politics, particularly around the primaries. the matter what party, you will find candidates are very patriotic people, they really want to do the best they can for our country, and they're wonderful, not only with what they do in public but with their families. it is something voters really don't get to see and this is sad, because these people are really tremendous. they worked very hard. as we know, more than half of everyone who puts their name on the ballot loses. it takes great courage to say i think i can do this and i'm going to try. these candidates but their names on the ballots. they run very hard. the candidates for president

right now, such as governor romney, he's been running for years now. probably three years nonstop. and the president is certainly tireless as well. so it's one thing that we get to see here a close. i wish more voters had an opportunity to see these candidates and see what they are like. host: john in new hampshire, independent. caller: how are you? host: good morning. caller: a quick point and a question. one of -- i look at massachusetts, when romney was a governor, i lived in massachusetts, when he was governor in 2006 and what have you. overall, mr. romney, governor romney at the time, he left the

state with debt. you hear how we set up a slush fund and all these great things he did for the state, which are totally untrue. i have to say, i have lived in new hampshire and a town over from where his vacation home is. the campaign itself, where he is changing positions it, from the time he was governor of massachusetts from what he is saying today, he has totally changed his whole direction. he was pro-life when he was the governor in massachusetts and now he is -- or he was not pro- life back then, and now he's pro-life. guest: certainly, candidates, as they go through time, can.

change can i think someone might say the president, you could hold out certain examples of the president's record. changes positions. certainly between next tuesday and inauguration day, no matter who wins, you might see some curbing of some of these positions that were taken during the campaign. it's just a guess. but some of these things will change over time it. candidates will take a step back sometimes from their harder position that they took in a campaign. it is the nature of politics. host: green bay, wisconsin, ed, a democrat. caller: good morning. i'm a graduate of the american school. i have a question on polling in general. it seems to me that the 90% + of the at african-american vote will go to obama and 80% of the

women's vote will go for obama, and the other vote, even if you are nice about it and give romney 50% of the vote, how can he be so close to the polls? guest: well, each poll is different. referencing real clear politics, a web site that pretty good as far as trying to bring polls together, there's a question as to how accurate it is these days with one third of households not having a home phone anymore. but you charitable trust did a study recently that indicated 9% of people that they're reaching out to are actually responding. -- the pew charitable trust. in antrim, whether it's from the campaigns or the different

parties, if you stayed home tonight, you would get on average five to 10 phone calls. it gets to the point where you shut off the ringer and don't even turn on your answering machine, because you could be on the phone all night with pollsters. lsters after this election will look at what went wrong and what went right, after this. it is science and they are very talented people. a lot of times they are very accurate. i will say that, it you are for one candidate or another, there is your own emotions that play into this sometimes, if so you will see a poll that maybe is not favorable to you and your party and sometimes your emotions can play into it. for the most part, particularly with these averages, they are generally accurate. host: we did a segment yesterday

about understanding polls during the campaign season. if your interested, go to c- span.org and we have the pew research director talked about how and why polls are done. now to thomas in little home, texas, republican -- in little elm. caller: i want to know, for everyone out there, i know people that go to college, whether their parents paid for it or day paige ford themselves, they're very proud they went to college. i cannot figure out why obama, and his wife, have hidden their records and sealed them. guest: well, i don't want to comment directly on that, necessarily, but i will say that we all went to college and we all have our records.

i'm not sure if i were a candidate for president that i would want all that out there and what i wrote in an essay 25 years ago. however, his record now, he has been president four years and his record is there. i would encourage the voters to look at his record and see if it is favorable to you and make your decision up next tuesday as you go to the polls. host: let me end with this. new hampshire has momentum and the tension in the primary. in the general, it is not that important, just a few electoral votes. guest: well, it is a few electoral votes, and it was not important the president and mitt romney would not be here at least once a week, in surrogate's at least every single day. again, it all gore had won the

state, he would have become president of the united states. -- if al gore had won the state, he would have become president of the united states. we're looking at each county. they are figuring out where these people need to go. that is why it is very strategic. when you hear the presently and in new hampshire and land in the last -- nashua, he is there for a strategic regiason. there's a lot of science and pulling in very strategic. again, we have had a lot of candidates here for the primary. we have had a lot of exposure to them. certainly voters here are knowledgeable about who these people are after going through a primary, and the different debates that go on. you, sir.xecutivehost: thank

our conversation continues looking at the state of new hampshire as a battleground state. up next, kathy sullivan after that, jim merrill. first, a news update from c-span radio. >> more on new hampshire this out. emily friedman reports that mitt romney will hold his final campaign rally in new hampshire, the very state in which he launched his bid for the white house 16 months ago. the victory rally will be held in manchester monday night. kid rock will be the special entertainer. as for president obama, political playbook reports "one of the most rebidding national events of the year" -- rivetting national events of the

year" happens today when president obama will tour new jersey. he glanced around news time -- in time. an update in the aftermath of the storm. reporting hurricane city has killed the b-1 people along the atlantic coast, and over 8 million have lost power. mayor bloomberg said it could take four or five days before the subway, which suffered the worst damage in the 108-year history is running again. all 10 of the tunnels were flooded. consolidated edison said it could take a week to restore power outages to the outer boroughs. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> these are the stories the textbooks have left out. very important moment we do not know about. the first pilgrims in america came just years before the

mayflower sailed. there were french, made wine and had the good sense to land in florida in june, but then they were wiped out by the spanish. we of completely let the story out of the textbooks. -- have complete left story out of the textbooks. in the middle of the night she killed her captor and realized she could get a bounty. she went back and stop him and made her way to boston where she was a heroine. they erected a statue to her, the for statute to an american woman. it showed her with a hat -- catch in one hand. >> ken davis is our guest on sunday. the best-selling author of "don't know much about the american president." "washington journal" continues.

host: four looked rowboats but force base in new hampshire. the history of being a swing state continues this year. it is on our list of the nine swing states. our competition continues about the battleground states of new hampshire. kathy sullivan is the chairwoman of the democratic party. she tried to us from manchester this morning. if i could begin repairwith the "washington post" peiece.

guest: that is not true. the democrats and president obama have been on the ground since the primary ended in february. the classic story was he drove through manchester and was locked, shut and the sides were down. the obama campaign was up and running. in knocking on doors, making phone calls. engaged in voter contacts for months and months before the obama campaign came back to new hampshire. i would say the republicans are talking of a good ground game, but the reality is the obama ground game is much better, and that will be a crucial factor when obama wins here next tuesday. host: given that obama won the state in 2008 by nine percentage

points, and the economy is not that bad in new hampshire compared to other states, why is the race so close for the president? guest: new hampshire is typically a swing state. go back and look at the races in 2000 and 2004, they were very close. 2008 the president did win going away. mitt romney is someone who was governor of massachusetts. he has been keenly -- campaigning here really for six years because he ran in 2008 and lost. did not take too much time before you started appearing here again. what is really surprising is he is not been able to close the deal with the picture voters, and they're still backing president obama. if you look at the polls, on average, the president is winning. he has maintained a small but steady lead. i think this year you will see a

number similar to what we had in 2004 and not so much in 2008. that was a different year. a lot of people were so upset with george bush. the president will pull out and win next tuesday. i think the numbers will be closer to what they were in 2004. host: what is your handicap for the governor's race and the two contested congressional races in the state? guest: in the governor's race, the democratic canada has maintained a small but said to lead in the polls. she has been out there campaigning and really doing a good job getting the message out. the republican, a very well- known figure in the state. this is the fourth time he is run for major office. he has not been successful in the past, despite the fact that he had much greater name recognition.

he just has not been able to catch her in the polls. the polls go back and forth on each of those. it is a rematch of the congressional races we saw two years ago. the incumbent was defeated by mayor manchester. i am not sure what will happen. i believe it will be a good night for democrats overall and we will pick up both congressional states. both are very close right now. host: with the economy. well, the candidates have turned to other issues. i want to show an ad that the iran the campaign is airing in the state of new hampshire. >> it is stronger now than when i came to america. >> our navy is smaller now that any time the 1917. that is unacceptable to me.

this is the highest responsibility of the presence of united states, and i will not cut the military budget by a trillion dollars, a combination of the budget cut the president has. that is making our future less certain and less secure. host: what is your reaction? guest: i am surprised irani is still talking about the navy after the president made about forces and bayonets. people know and understand president obama is devoted to the security of this country, that he made the call to send in the seals to take out osama bin laden it was such a threat to our country. has made a real wa priority of eliminating the leadership of al qaeda. he has extricated as out of a choice -- for a choice in iraq

that cause the problems in the real economy here at home and allies around the world. president obama has done a great job on national security and foreign affairs. mitt romney, you saw him in the debate on the topic of foreign policy. most of his ideas he was a neat, too, with respect to the president. -- me, too. host: lets' hear from our republican voters in new hampshire. -- let's. caller: it is amazing that are all on the puck for president obama. you want to watch a balanced news station, go to fox news. that is the truth, it really is. president george bush would have been crucified if this went down in libya. for american soldiers, people

that were killed. they were just sitting around. same situation. mitt romney does have a plan. he is a businessman. obama has never been run a lemonade stand. let's be honest. guest: with respect to benghazi the president is insisting on getting to the bottom. he has also said we will find those responsible and nature -- make sure they are held responsible. that is what we expect from are responsible president. with respect to the other comments, obviously with respect to fox news, i do not watch fox news, so i cannot really comment on fox other than to say it might be a good idea if our friends from kingston tried watching some other shows once in awhile to see what other

folks are saying and not rely upon one source of news. when you rely only on one news source, it can be somewhat biased. i think the president is doing a good job, and i am really looking forward to another four years of president obama. host: st. charles, missouri. dale is a democrat a calller. caller: i was born and raised a republican. after voting for presidential elections for the past 30 years as a democrat makes me a democrat. the question i have, that i would like you to address is the single-issue voters that the republicans catered to, we see numerous examples of people from texas in particular that have a belief system that is not based on facts. i am curious why the democratic

party has not addressed the single issue voters. i keep asking people. what did you get for the gun issues from george bush, ronald reagan, there administrations of the congress? they cannot tell me. ditto abortion issues. ditto gay rights. there does not appear to be any better relations -- legislation that the federal level but i am aware of or that they are aware of. uhost: we will leave it there and go to victoria, a republican. caller: my thoughts are real quick, we have the right to bear arms number-one. number two, my vote lies solely on obama care. i am 56. i am getting ready to retire.

i do not want to pay for birth control. the ladies who make money can go down to planned parenthood and pay $20 for it. why should i pay for their birth control? it is against my faith. i have the freedom of religion and plan to exercise that by voting for romney. host: kathy sullivan. guest: in the first place, no one is proposing that taxpayers pay for someone's birth control. the issue is whether or not the employer has the right to discriminate against certain types of prescriptions, specifically birth control. this is a law we have had in new hampshire for several years now that employers have to cover prescription contraceptive. it has worked quite well. it has nothing to do with the

tax payer. it is the expense of the employer, not the taxpayer. with respect to the health-care issue, i have to tell you something, i am the managing partner of a law firm. we have about 50 people who work there. up until couple of years ago, our health and -- health insurance premiums went up by double-digit numbers. for years. last year our health care premiums will have gone up by only 3% total for two years, which is unheard of several years ago. we kept looking at the double- digit percentage increases. i am very happy with what the president has done with respect to health care. i think it is starting to have the impact of driving down insurance premiums. we're also seeing we have more people with pre-existing

conditions who will have insurance coverage. whereas under mitt romney plan someone with pre-existing conditions loses insurance temporarily in goes back will not be insured. children be able to stay on their parents' health care plan until the age of 26 so that kids coming out of college may not have a job will be able to still have health insurance. these are important factors and important issues for people in this country. i really am happy with what the president has done with health care reform. i think that is why the president is proud it is called obama care. caller: you are a very beautiful lady, and let me tell you something, we fight each other over all these issues, but we will have to face what is coming to all of us. you are totally right under your assessment of iran.

-- assessment of mitt romney. cspan, one more thing, the engagement between democrats and republicans, i think that is very healthy for the united states. also, the affordable health care act is a beautiful bill. i am so happy they are willing to take care of people with pre- existing conditions it will not be able to cheat us. one thing for certain, white oak, black folk, hispanic votes, we have to go find each other now. -- white folk, black folk, hispanic folk. we need these people fighting for justice for the american people. i live in south central l.a.. i have to watch some of the most serious atrocities every day.

to have good folks here. you have people not willing to given to the beast of racism. as long as we continue to fight each other, we will have these problems. but our people in new york and new jersey. i think the governor of new jersey had a beautiful statement. no, i do not believe it is used totally, but what he said the other day i am so impressed with him. -- believe in his views totally, but what he said the other day i am so impressed with him. guest: i think the fact the with the governor said yesterday with respect and to the natural disaster is great. there is too much need-jerk partisan reaction. it is great to see someone come forward and praised the president for his leadership

with respect to the aftermath of hurricane sandy. we had some of that impact here in new hampshire. we still have tens of thousands of folks without power. we did not get hit as badly as people in new york and new jersey, connecticut, selfish or massachusetts. a little luckier than those, but hopefully everyone will go -- will get the help they need of the recovery will go smoothly. host: president obama will to work the state of -- tour the state of new jersey today. caller: you have to understand why president obama can delay the benghazi problem until after the election. he was very proud to show the situation room when he got a hold of bin laden, but now he does not want any faxed to come out about this one until after

election. host: why do you think he is delaying it when the house is controlled by republicans? caller: because he is. you tell me he is not? host: i do not know. i was wondering what evidence you have of that. caller: any news program, he will go on better of it, the view, but will not go on any programs that will ask him the hard questions. host: we go to neal, a republican calller from pennsylvania. caller: their number one. cnn forget it. chris matthews plays the race

card every tying democrats are losing. then it is the other guy. benghazi should be number-one. four americans killed. where is obama? he would not want any programs and answer anything. host: let me get your thoughts on this. guest: the president has been in a couple of debates since what happened there. the subject did come up here yet i think it is not correct to say that he has not gone anywhere where the subject has been able to be discussed. we did have nationally- televised debates. the president has been very clear, and that is we need to get to the bottom of what happened, and we will find those responsible and hold them responsible. given the president's record

with respect to the leadership of al qaeda and bin laden, i think we can expect him to do exactly what he promised to do, and that is fine the responsible -- find those responsible and held them responsible. did you want to picture it is done correctly and with the correct information. that is what the president is doing, and i think that is the right way to conduct a national security. host: show the viewers the breakdown earlier. unregistered voters mix of 40%. what is internal polling showing about how many of those voters president obama could capture? >> i do not want to talk about internal polling, but let me say this, based on what i am seeing, i am very confident the president will have a good night here in new -- here on tuesday. we are working hard to make sure

we have every obama supporter out there and out there to vote so we do have a victory. i think it will be closer, closer to the 2004 election when senator kerrey won. i do think president obama will pull it off, because he has such an excellent ground game, and because of these big city issues that are born to the people of new hampshire. we talk about real depth is a reduction, the specifics of his plan, unlike mitt romney to has yet to answer how he will pay for his plan. the people understand you want someone willing to talk about specifics, someone who has a record of cutting taxes for working-class and middle-class people. someone who has a record for cutting taxes for small businesses. the president has signed 18 tax cuts into law for small business people. i think the people of new hampshire, when they look at the president's record and compare

that to mitt romney's record, they will say president obama has shown steady leadership when he came into office, turned things around and is continuing to make things better. when you look at his record compared to mitt romney's rhetoric, then i think the independent voters will vote for president obama and help give us a victory next week. host: kathy sullivan is the democratic committeewoman. shares serves as the new hampshire democratic chairwoman from 1999-2007. when is the difference between them? guest: as democratic party chair i was the person who basically was elected to be in charge of the democratic party for the state of new hampshire. as national committeewoman i am not as active in the day to day activities, but instead represent the state party at the national level with the national

committee under the great leadership under the congresswoman deborah what torrential. host-- deborah watzerman-schulz. caller: in new hampshire of the property taxes are very high compared to massachusetts for example. i know this is for the property owners and a constitutional amendment proposal to put this on the ballot banning any future imposition of state income tax or federal income tax -- sales tax by 80 in the governor of the legislature. i think it is a very bad idea. i think they should have ever won pay an income tax, rather

than most of the property tax by the property owners like me. host: kathy sullivan, go ahead. guest: in new hampshire this year we have three questions on the ballot. one is the constitutional amendment to ban a statewide income tax. i personally am opposed to a statewide income tax. i think it hampshire has done very well without an income tax. we have done well through a recession without an income tax. however, i am opposed to a constitutional amendment. i do not think voters today should tie the hands of future generations. they should have their own ability to make their own decisions for how to pay for the services that government provides. our forefathers did not hide our own hands with respect to telling us how we had to pay for services, so i do not think we should do that. there are other questions on the ballot. one is to give the legislature

bidault authority and the right to impose rules on the courts of ohio -- on the courts of new hampshire so the legislature can impose their own rules on our courts. i am opposed to that. recent legislature, which is controlled right now by the very radical and extreme republicans. one of the first actions they took was to allow guns into the state house, something we had not allowed in the past. i am concerned it would give the legislature the rules for the court, we may end up in the same situation in the courthouse. i am against that question as well. the third question would be to have a new hampshire constitutional convention, 400 people. i am opposed to that. i think it would be a costly and unnecessary endeavor. we do have another process to oppose amendments.

i am encouraging everyone in new hampshire to vote no on all three questions on the ballot this year. host: we are talking about the battleground state of new hampshire. we wanted to update you on president obama campaign plans. he will resume -- resume campaigning with stops in about it, wisconsin on thursday. this is from "the associated press." tom democratic calller. last calller for kathy sullivan. caller: i would just like to know that romney reaches a lot about national-security. being hispanic, there's a lot of working-class people. i would like to know, has anyone in his family ever been in the military service? i mean, here he is talking national security. we send our sons to foreign

wars and all these things happen with people's kids, but what about his kids? anyone in his family ever been to war? host: i am not sure you know the answer to that question, but why are military issues of the deal in new hampshire? guest: i think military issues are a big issue everywhere, but we do have been able shipyard, and we also have their force base and national guard. i think like every state in the country, we also have some defense contractors as well. security is always a big issue. for example, my parents were both world war ii vetrans. you find a lot of veterans in new hampshire. the important thing is to look at the record in comparison to record. president obama has a great record on national security and taking down the leadership of al qaeda, our enemies.

people came into our country and killed 2000 of our citizens. at the same time, look at mitt romney in what he is proposing is trillions of dollars in defense spending that the military is not even asking for. he is looking at the old way of conducting military affairs. he is still talking about the ways the navy operated in 1917, as opposed to the security threats that face us today in the country in 2012, and what is the most effective way of protecting our people and our country in 2012. look at the rhetoric, as opposed to the record. if you look of the record, you will support president obama. host: kathy sullivan with the democratic national committee, thank you for your time. we will continue our conversation about the state of new hampshire with jim

merrill.'first, a news update from c-span radio. >> wall street opens this morning for the first time in two days since the storms and the hit new york city and other parts of the east coast. michael bloomberg will ring the opening bell. stock futures are rising ahead of the opening. president obama is its new jersey today and will meet with some of the victims of the storm. we will have his remarks on c- span radio after the noon hour. republican presidential nominee mitt romney appears and florida. first, a tampa victory rally. senator marco rubio, jeb bush, and connie mack will also be appearing with mitt romney. turning to the economy, matthew rutherford in a statement earlier said the treasury still expects the government will hit the current debt and borrowing limit at the end of the year. he says treasury will employ the same types of procedures that it

has used in the past to keep borrowing under the current debt limit of 16.39 trillion. the nation's debt currently stands at 16.16 trillion. the united states has never failed to meet its debt obligations, although the last battle over the raising of the debt ceiling in august 2011 went to the last minute before compromise must -- compromise was reached. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> i especially like watching gavel-to-gavel coverage. the only place to get the real deal. i also enjoyed "newsmakers." i like the commentary is only intended to let you know what is going on. there is not really too much analysis. i appreciate how i can really see through and understand the

program itself. and i can get my analysis elsewhere. if you want to see how your government works directly, c- span is about the only place to go. >> just in friedman watches cpsan on comcast. >> indiana has made incredible progress in the past eight years. we have honestly balanced budgets during all those years. we have become the fiscal and the of the country, and now we have the largest budget surplus we of ever had in our history. will make it possible to strengthen the budget reserves, and i believe we can cut taxes. you just said we pay for things in indiana. when you were speaker of the house for five of the six years, indiana ran deficits. when mitch daniels came into

powers -- came into power couple of years later, indiana was 700 million in debt and had a deficit of $820 million. the facts are stubborn things. i would like to know from my colleague how will we protect and preserve the fiscal integrity of the state of indiana. >> you know our budget has to be in indiana according to the constitution. i have ballast and produce a bipartisan budget. -- i have balanced and produced a bipartisan budget. i find it almost laughable the united states congressman would lecture anyone about fiscal responsibility. you voted not once, not twice, but five times congressman. you voted and the resolve to increase the deficit by $200 billion.

>> fine key house, senate, and governor's races from across the country at c-span radio and c- span.org. "washington journal" continues. host: conversation about the battleground state of new hampshire continues with jim merrill. if i could just begin with some specifics about new hampshire. the unemployment rate, 5.7%. president obama won by nine percentage points. abc news says this. he did not just eat out a win, he dominated. ut a win, he dominated. given the economy is not as weak as it is in other states and the margin by which he won in 2008, how is he responding in the state of new hampshire? -- he did not just eke out a

win. >> all of the statistics you cite are accurate, but the past four years have been typical. we have seen unemployment rise elsewhere. government spending out of control. i think that is why you see today the voters of this date, while correct unemployment state projects rate has not as tough as other places in the country, there is anxiety here. that is why they are looking at mitt romney very closely. he has a plan and the president does not. >> would you look at the party registration, the undeclared make up 40%. how is mitt romney trying to appeal to the voters? and what does internal polling show of how many of those voters mayor ronnie could get on election day? guest: we made a concerted

effort to speak to independent voters in new hampshire. mitt romney has been a town halls throughout the state. the largest concern in new hampshire is the school issues. they're concerned about the economy and the size of the debt and deficit. this president has run trillion dollar deficits. he has increased our debt more than any other president combined in our nation's history. these pocketbook voters are looking at the voters in seeing a record of failure. what we see is there will be a significant turnout on election day of independent voters. we have been working diligently to win them over with a strong fiscal message. we a record of balancing budgets and creating jobs and keeping spending under control. host: we just heard from kathy

sullivan who noted military issues are a big one in new hampshire. she made the comment that mitt romney wants to add trillions to the pentagon spending. this echoes what you just said that said competing aspects of the political culture could tip the balance in either direction. when is the state's aversion to taxes and affection for small government. guest: it is a fair point, and while i will often correct the record of what she says, this is a critical part of the state. new hampshire has one of the highest percentage of veterans and the country per capita. we have been able shipyard and the largest manufacturing employer in new hampshire. when the president talks about military issues we're looking at a sequester right now that will mean that devastating cuts

to our defense budget, military. that will have a direct impact on the shipyard and other defense contractors and men and women in the armed forces. mitt romney has called for a larger navy. smallest size since 1917. the president likened the navy to forces -- courses and bayonets. -- courses and bayonets. -- horses and bayonets. host: the other cultural dynamic is women's issues. he writes working for obama is the state's history of being in the forefront of women's issues. it was the first date to ratified the equal rights amendment. it has historically favored abortion rights. in 2010 enacted a law approving

same-sex marriages. let me show you an ad president obama is running in the state and other battleground states. >> which you believe? -- do you believe? it would be my preference they reverse roe v. wade. planned parenthood, get rid of that. >> no matter what his ads say, we know what he will do. host: jim merrill, your reaction. guest: it is really from the national democratic playbook to distort and distract. what mitt romney has said very clearly is the best way we can help working men, women and everyone together is to get them a good job.

a good paying jobs so they can care for themselves and care for others. under this present we have not been able to do that. the people of new hampshire or anxious. it is unfortunate the democrats choose this attack, but mitt romney would say very clearly that he is focused on making life better for everybody by getting our economy moving again in getting the government under control. host: describe your ground game in new hampshire. guest: i think we have an extraordinarily strong ground game. the obama campaign enjoys spiking the ball in the spring and early summer, while mitt romney was still running primaries around the country. as i reminded people at the time, mitt romney had just won an historic primary victory, and has been a year organizing for

that. we of of really strong core of activists of leaders around the state to were working very hard for mitt romney in the republican team right now. we have nine offices around the state. we have made three times as many phone calls and six times as many doors be a knock on in 2012 than we did in 2008. we are undergoing extremely voter contact. we have made over 1 million unique boater contract -- context in new hampshire. these are all grass roots that we run. we're calling our friends and neighbors and asking for the vote. in democratic calller, you're up. >> thank you for taking my call. i've a question and comment. my comments will be i think everyone is being very unfair to

the way president obama handled libya that has not been investigated fully. no one speaks about the intelligent plunder the republicans did that put us into war with iraq, lost 2000 american soldiers, and the answer was we had poor intelligence. my question is, why should anyone believe mitt romney would be good at creating jobs while he was 48 in job creation massachusetts? i will take the second question first. mitt romney has created jobs. he is in the middle of a tough economy and created almost 50,000 new jobs in massachusetts. also remember he is one of the most extraordinary business leaders we've seen in our time and instrumental in creating american enterprises such as

peoples and bright horizons and another a -- number of other companies. i think mitt romney has a very clear record of job creation that stands in stark contrast from the president was talked about getting unemployment down below 8% and it dips below just this past month, but for the 43 previous months those over -- it was over 8%. the policies just have not worked. with regard to libya, your comment on that, i would say obviously mayor ronnie was our president at the time. we're in a campaign against president obama. it was president obama and his administration has been nearly two weeks blaming what happened on a video, threatening to arrest the filmmaker. there will be discussions on

that for how the president handled that. back to jobs, mitt romney has a very clear record of success. host: republican calller. caller: i think he may take the state of new hampshire, but i hope he wins, because we need to get lisp's scam artists out of the white house once and for all. i am sick and tired of al sharpton promoting this guy. they're both scam artists. having been born in new hampshire, i grew up in pennsylvania. with regard to the president, i think it is very clear the stakes are extraordinarily high in this race. we cannot afford four more years of president obama. we cannot afford four more years

of trillion dollar deficits. we cannot afford a growing debt that has gone to 16 trillion on his watch and will go to 20 trillion if we get four more years of him. we cannot afford four more years of obama care and big government takeover spirited mare romney has made it very clear what his plans are. we're making the contrast in the closing arguments in the next few days. we're making a very strong labor mitt romney will be on monday night for the very final event. host: independent calller. richard. caller: yes, i am rooting for you guys. i hope you can do the job. i know the previous person was talking about the wonders of our president and the navy. i was in the navy in the korean war.

i know a thing or two about mines. you do not sweep them with aircraft carriers or submarines. that is ridiculous. as far as democrats are concerned, they take our money and does only god knows. do your job well, and thank you for the time. host: we guelph -- we will go on to carolina in tampa, florida. democratic calller. caller: we are middle-class folks, the same folks president obama is talking about and mitt romney is talking about. here is a real answer from a real person in crisis. my husband's company shipped to china and left my husband and at least 150 employees here to struggle for themselves. we almost lost our home.

president obama affordability planned saved me, my husband, and my son from being homeless. i do not understand why all the negativity is against the president. he spent 15 trillion dollars, but some of that money helps to real people like me and my husband. thank you for your call. i am sorry for the troubles you and your family have experience. number one, we have to get the economy moving again. we have to get tough on china. there is a clear line between what iran is proposing doing with china, cracking down, labeling them a currency manipulator and giving the company -- getting the company's strong he has a record of joy left. he has made it very clear he

will get tough with china and change the nature of the relationship there. president obama has had for years to do that and really has not done that. mitt romney has done meetings here in new hampshire and around the country and talked with people just like you who are struggling in this economy. we can do better than this. i think the message for voters in this country as we can do better. this may be the best president obama can do, but not the best america can do. we are better than this. under president romney we will be. host: let me get your take on the governor's race. here is the national telegraph with their headlines. gend"the associated press" -- guest: we a very close races appear. -- up here.

also in new hampshire is a battleground state. all down the line. i also served as senior adviser for lagamonte's race. his 26 years of leadership in the public and private and non- private sector as someone was work in business to bring people together. -- i served in lamontagne's campaign. i think he will do ok. all of these races will be competitive, but for the voters of new hampshire, they have to look of the record. we have extraordinary amount of negative third-party advertisements running from out

of state interest groups right now. most of them against republicans. i would say to voters they are dependent upon your fear. we are relying on your common sense and good judgment. he will be a great governor for the state. he deserves our support. host: jackson, missouri. patty is an independent calller. caller: my family's military, and it has distressed me for years that it seems to me the democratic party [unintelligible] i remember that happening during the clinton administration, as well as obama moving through the ranks over the years. when we were stationed in illinois, it was from chicago.

i do not think he loves the military. i think he likes to stand around and say things, but would push comes to shove he does not seem to like the military. what is concerning is he talked a lot about people have the right to vote, and the vote should not be suppressed. yet it seems to me a lot of the democratic campaigns have suppressed the military, but have found a way for the military stationed overseas to not have the ability to vote. guest: first, let me say we are all americans. we are all proud of our country. we all support the military. i would never say president obama supports military ever is less than it romney does. that is true on down the line. there are differences in how we conduct foreign policy. there are differences in how we handle the military and how we handle service personnel, as

well as acquiring materials they needs -- they need. of this case republicans have the better of it. when president obama talks about the navy at the lowest level in nearly 100 years, it is not right to lock him for that. that is a serious discussion about our ability to project power around the world and do what america needs to do to protect its interest. with regard to military voted, i could not agree with you more. this has been a problem for years, and it is about time we got it fixed. our men and women are serving in harm's way all over the globe. every two-four years we have the issue of getting balance to them in getting back in time to be counted. i think the very least we can do to make sure those men and women are cared for in their boat is cherished. we need to do a better job of that. host: cnn reporting there are

100 sarah gets that will hit the truck for mitt romney over the next six days before tuesday. any high-profile server gets coming to new hampshire? guest: mitt romney will be here monday edt in manchester to do his final event of the campaign. it all started for us here in new hampshire last june, and it will end here in new hampshire in manchester on a really high note. i do expect others to be here up of the next coming days. we of that marker rubio, christie, several of the romney sons. chris chrisbio, tie, several of the romney sons. caller: i basically have just a comment. a few minutes ago c-span

broadcast a montage of clips of roe romney's position on vs. wade. host: that was an ad put out by the president obama campaign, not a montage. caller: the basic premise of my comment is to show it wrongly talking about how he was born to do away with roe vs. wade, and you were asked to comment, and you went completely off topic. you had nothing to say about what his position is on women's right to choose. if you would like to comment on that, i would really like to hear your comment. guest: i am happy to comment on that. iran is pro-like. he is proudly pro-life.

-- mitt romney is pro-life. my comment was in reaction to the democrats' national plan to not talk about the economy, not talk about the president's record because they cannot. the president's record is one of failure, one of spiralling debt and deficits. trillion dollars bid list that elderly failed. -- trillion dollars stimulus that has utterly failed. most voters do not want to see the economy. let's remember this, when president obama came to office he likes to remind us of the problems he inherited. he cannot fix it from the inside apparently. when he came to office he had a democratic house and democratic senate. in the midst of the great recession and real dramatic jobs crisis, what did he do? he did not talk about creating jobs, did not power small

businesses. he ran through a trillion dollars stimulus that created very few jobs and was wasted dramatically. and he did obamacare. i see he was distracted. based on someone who has never worked in the private sector. he was not ready to talk about what we need to do to move the economy forward. pro-life but his focus is getting the economy moving again, getting the economy back on track and getting men and women back to work. so the king care for themselves and their families and move the country forward. host: jim merrill, senior adviser for the romney campaign. that concludes our conversation about the battleground state of new hampshire. we will continue looking at other swing states. taros state is virginia.

we will begin a conversation with your comments about news of the day. think you for joining us. -- thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> looking at the presidential candidates schedule, president obama continues to keep his campaign travel on hold today as he monitors damage from hurricane sandy. he will depart the white house and at noon today to head to new jersey where he will visit victims of hurricane sandy. we will bring you any remarks from the president. according to white house aides, you will resume campaigning with stops in wisconsin, colorado. mitt romney has